ABC is Monday’s Most Watched Net for 2nd Week in a Row

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Monday’s Most-Watched Telecast for the 4th Time in 5 Telecasts, ABC’s “DWTS” Takes Second at 9pm, Beating NBC’s “Trauma” by 111% in Adults 18-49

Hitting Season Highs for the 2nd Consecutive Week, “Castle” Dominates

NBC’s “Jay Leno” by its Widest Margins Yet in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC qualified as the most-watched TV network (14.3 million) on Monday for the 2nd week in a row, beating CBS by 2.7 million viewers (11.6 million), Fox by 3.0 million viewers (11.3 million) and NBC by 9.0 million viewers (5.3 million).

“Dancing with the Stars” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”stood as TV’s most-watched program (16.5 million) on Monday for the 4th time in 5 telecasts. The ABC dance competition built its audience from its first hour to its second hour by 1.0 million viewers (16.0 million to 17.0 million) and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/9 to 3.8/9). In fact, “DWTS” ranked second from 9:00-10:00 p.m. among Adults 18-49 (tie), more than doubling the performance of NBC’s high-profile “Trauma” (+111% – 3.8/9 vs. 1.8/4).

“DWTS” won its 2-hour time period for the 4th straight week among Women 18-49 (4.9/12) and Women 25-54 (6.5/14).

“Castle” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Hitting season highs in viewers and young adults for the 2nd consecutive week, ABC’s “Castle” outperformed NBC’s “Jay Leno” in the 10 o’clock hour by its largest margins yet in both Total Viewers (+5.2 million viewers – 9.9 million vs. 4.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+71% – 2.4/6 vs. 1.4/4).

One of TV’s biggest gainers in the 10 o’clock hour this season, ABC’s “Castle” is generating substantial increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 1.6 million viewers and an additional 6-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+26%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

On average, “Castle” is improving the time period year to year for ABC, growing its hour over the same nights last year in both Total Viewers (+1.0 million – 9.5 million vs. 8.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+5% – 2.3/6 vs. 2.2/5).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 33% currently, from 27% at the same point in 2008. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 10/19/09.